Soft and chewy with that trademark homemade flavor, these are the best soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Made with brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, chewy oats, sweet raisins, and a secret ingredient, this recipe wins for flavor and texture. Your family will love these easy oatmeal raisin cookies!
There are two types of people in this world. Raisin haters and raisin lovers. I fall into the latter category. Besides homemade apple pie, oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite dessert. There’s something incredibly magical about the chewy texture, soft centers, plump raisins, and cinnamon flavor. Please tell me I’m not the only raisin lover!!
What Makes These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies The Best
The competition is strong, but here’s why you’ll fall in love with these cookies.
- Moist and tender centers
- Slight crisp on the edges
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Loaded with oats
- Studded with raisins
- Cinnamon spiced
- Buttery flavor
- 30 minute chill time
It doesn’t get much better than this!
Ingredients in Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal raisin cookies are made with very basic ingredients.
- Butter: Butter is the base of any delicious cookie recipe. Make sure you are using room temperature butter.
- Brown Sugar + Granulated Sugar: Sugar is not only used for sweetness, but also for providing structure and tenderness. I like to use more brown sugar than white sugar because (1) brown sugar has incredible flavor and (2) brown sugar contains more moisture than white, which produces a softer cookie.
- Eggs: Eggs help bind everything together. You need 2 eggs in this recipe.
- Pure Vanilla Extract + Salt: Both provide flavor.
- Cinnamon: Raisins, oats, and cinnamon are winning flavor combination.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Molasses: Molasses is my secret ingredient! 1 scant Tablespoon enhances all the wonderful flavors of these buttery, cinnamon-sweet oatmeal raisin cookies.
- Flour: Flour is the structure of the cookies.
- Oats: There are a ton of oats in this recipe! Oats provide a fabulously chewy texture. I use and recommend old fashioned whole oats here—just like I do for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
- Raisins: I love to soak the raisins in warm water before using. This step is optional, but it guarantees they are plump and soft. Blot dry before adding to cookie dough. (You can also use this cookie dough to make my white chocolate chip cherry oatmeal cookies.)
I like to add chopped walnuts. Nuts are totally optional but highly recommended. These simple ingredients combine to make the best oatmeal raisin cookies!
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
There’s only a few steps between now and a batch of warm oatmeal cookies. 🙂
- Cream butter + sugars: Use a hand or stand mixer to cream the softened butter with both sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add eggs, vanilla, + molasses: Add eggs, then mix on high for about 1 minute until incorporated. Add vanilla and molasses, mix until combined.
- Dry ingredients: Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a separate bowl. Pour this into the wet ingredients. Combine together on low.
- Add the extras: Beat in the oats and raisins on low speed. Dough will be thick and sticky.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes.
- Roll: Roll cookie dough into balls and place on a lined baking sheet. I love using these baking mats.
- Bake: Bake the cookies at 350°F (177°C) for 12-13 minutes until lightly browned. The cookies might look under-baked, but they will continue to set as they cool. This is the secret to a soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough is Sticky
This oatmeal raisin cookie dough is sticky, so don’t be alarmed. The cookie dough needs to chill for about 30 minutes before baking. I don’t recommend keeping this cookie dough in the refrigerator for much longer because your cookies won’t spread. The oats will begin to absorb all of the wonderful moisture from the eggs, butter, and sugar and won’t expand as they bake. Sticky dough is good dough!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these oatmeal raisin cookies, try any of these SOFT cookie recipes. You’ll wonder why you haven’t baked them sooner!
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Scotchies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Thick Monster Cookies
- Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 26-30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft and chewy with that trademark homemade flavor, these are the best soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Your family will love these easy oatmeal raisin cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 and 2/3 cups (209g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*
- 1 cup (140g) raisins (see Note below)
- optional: 1/2 cup (64g) chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix on high until combined. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Beat in the oats, raisins, and walnuts (if using) on low speed. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky. Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator (do the full hour if you’re afraid of the cookies spreading too much). If chilling for longer (up to 2 days), allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. I recommend using a cookie scoop since the dough can be sticky. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and under-baked. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will continue to “set” on the baking sheet during this time.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Baked cookies freeze well—up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well—up to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Oats: For these oatmeal raisin cookies, I use old-fashioned whole oats. They provide the ultimate hearty, chewy, thick texture we love!
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs preferred. Good rule of thumb: always use room temperature eggs when using room temperature butter.
- Raisins: Soak your raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before using (blot very well to dry them) – this makes them nice and plump for your cookies.
- Adapted from Loaded Oatmeal Cookies & Oatmeal Creme Pies. Recipe originally published on Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2014.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally, my daughters and I are addicted to your recipes! I make these cookies all the time with lots of toasted walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, mixed berries and cherries whatever I have in the pantry and they are a hit with my friends and family! Keep baking❤️
I’ve made these multiple times and each time I carry them to the office or to my gym buddies everyone says “these are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted!” Easy to follow recipe and the cookies are truly outstanding.
The molasses is a total game-changer! Makes them so soft and chewy. I sometimes use pecans instead of walnuts b/c I’m from the South and I grew up with pecan trees. Either way, they always turn out delicious.
SALLY!!! I used to “think” that I made the best oatmeal raisin cookies, I was wrong, NOW I make THE best oatmeal raisin cookies, thanks to your AWESOME recipe! I’m so glad I tried it. The first batch I followed your recipe exactly and they were awesome, but I like my oatmeal raisin, and molasses cookies, to be a bit spicier then this, so to anybody who shares my preference, for my second batch I tried using spice islands pumpkin pie spice, a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mace and cloves, in place of the pure cinnamon, and I really loved the result! Either way, this recipe is a KEEPER, thanks Sally, keep these great recipes coming, you’re amazing!!! 🙂
These are fantastic! I made them for a friend’s b-day because they are his favorite and they were a complete hit – even survived traveling half way across the US since I had to ship them. I did 2 batches, one following the recipe exactly and one swapping the normal raisins for dried cranberries, which I soaked in warm water the same as the raisins. Both were gone in no time flat and have garnered several requests to please send more cookies. Thank you for a recipe that is definitely going into my keeper file. =)
The taste of this dough is ah-mazing. I have made these several times because your cookie recipes are always the best. However, I am unsure of what I am doing wrong – but, these cookies always end up flat for me. I chill them usually for 60 minutes as you suggest for fear of spreading out too much… My baking soda is always changed out no longer than every 3 months. And, I do measure ingredients in grams, as you suggest, to ensure that my “cup is really a cup”. If you have any suggestions for what technical issue I might be having, I would greatly appreciate it! I’m determined to get it right as this Oatmeal Raisin dough is better than any other dough I have tried.
Ready to do this and am concerned about flat cookies. I’ve had this issue before and don’t want to waste my time and ingredients!
Hi Connie! Here’s our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading.
Thank you for taking the time to upload this recipe. For me, it really needed salt and the flavor just wasn’t there. I know other people really enjoyed it so maybe was just me.
Hey Jenny! There is 1/2 teaspoon of salt in this cookie dough. Did you leave it out?
Best oatmeal cookie recipe I’ve ever tried! Everyone said they’re awesome, and I agree. Addicting, intense flavor, chewy-soft texture, and perfect sweetness. I used semi sweet chocolate chips instead of raisins since I did not have any raisins on hand. Sally, you never fail in providing us with 5 star recipes, and I always come to your page when I want a no fail, kick butt recipe! 🙂 Thank you!
Perfect!! Just made these with my daughters to give to Dad and Grandpa for Father’s Day. I loved that they are so basic and simple. Definitely going into my “go-to” recipe binder. Thanks! I did not add nuts so we added a bit more raisins.
Thank so much for this recipe!!!! Best cookies I’ve made. Everyone loves them even some people who normally do not like raisins and walnuts! 🙂
Made these today and my dad and brother LOVED them! I couldn’t really taste the molasses so will add more next time because I love molasses. They were easy to do too and will definitely make these again 🙂
Yep, yummiest ever! I’ve never rehydrated my raisins before…that sealed the deal for me. Totally different texture. I made one and a half times this recipe, omitted the nuts (as always the case for me) and threw in a handful of chocolate chips. Their chewy texture is exactly what an oatmeal cookie should be like. The molasses and brown sugar make them almost caramel lie in taste. They were gone in like 24 hours. No wonder that they a favorite. An absolute keeper! Thank you!
Sally, I never say OMG, but…OMG! This recipe is so easy to follow and it produces some of the best oatmeal raisin cookies (with walnuts) I and my husband ever had. I get 4 dozen out of this batch. And my friends beg me to make more. Thank you very much!
Sally, these cookies are divine! Thank you for sharing your baking skills with us all 🙂 My hubby & kids just love them! I also saw your post with the gluten free no bakes & was hoping you could post more recipies soon. I have lots of Family who need them. Thanks again, you rock!
OMG ! Made these this morning they are soo good.
Thanks for sharing ☺️
Made these with my kids tonight and they are incredible. I wanted them a little (just a little) healthier so I used whole wheat pastry flour, left out white sugar (not the brown sugar) and added some honey, and added chia seeds. Still indulgent and truly delicious. I had 3 right out of the gates. Oops!
These were the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever made. Hands down. Thank you so much for sharing! Can’t wait to show them off at work and with the boyfriend’s family tomorrow 🙂
These are THE best cookies! Looking forward to trying with raisinets next time. I actually added sugar drizzle on some. Thank you!
i just made these! My kitchen smells awesome! I followed the recipe exactly, put them in the fridge for 30min and baked them for exactly 10 min. They came out flat and crispy. While they tasted good, I like my cookies thick and soft. Does this mean I should add more flour or do I need to refrigerate them for a ful hour instead of 30min??
I just made these cookies and they turned out great! Thanks for sharing and your tip about soaking the raisins were great! I’m definitely not a baker so this was a bit intimidating since I’ve butchered other cookies before! Love how easy this recipe was. Thanks! 🙂
“Oh my Lord in Heaven, YES, YES, YES!!!” This was exactly the taste I was looking for and did not even know it, thanks for reading my mind…lol. The (whole Tablespoon…yes Tablespoon) and the molasses a pure stoke of genius! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Made these yesterday and wow! They were soft and chewy and so so good. Will definitely make more very soon. 🙂
have you ever used craisins in this recipe?
Yep– delicious.
Just made these and I must say 5 stars! I’m a sucker for any chewy cookie but these are one of the best. Had to go without walnuts, thought I had some. Have to try that next time. Soaking the raisins was a nice touch, definitely going to remember that little trick. Keep up the great work, yet to make any of your recipes I didn’t love.
These are so good! I followed the recipe exactly and me and my husband loved them!
These are AMAZING! Served them at a fall party and they were gone first! I found key is to take them out when they are still really soft, almost raw. Delicious!!
This recipe its excelent!!! i love it!. I took this recipe today and i made the cookies at home and they came out perfect. Im learning to do cookies because my mom said that I’m not good at making cookies but I’m sure she will like this ones.The only ingredient i didn’t had its the molasses but i added maple syrup and they came out good. Im from Ensenada Mexico so it is hard for me to find molasses. Thank you for sharing the recipe! i will try the other recipes that you share here too 🙂
Just have to say this was an amazing recipe and the cookies and soft and chewy as promised. I loved your tip about soaking the raisins. It really made a great difference! Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us.
OMG! I’m addicted! My grandmother would die of envy! Thank you for showing me the road to Nirvana 🙂
Wow! I just made these cookies and they are sinfully delicious! I have never posted a review before but I just had to this time. These are just the cookie I was looking for. I didn’t have the molasses so I omitted it but will try it with the molasses next time. I can’t imagine them getting any better 🙂
I made these yesterday and they are INCREDIBLE. They are DANGEROUS. I ate 4 like they were nothin. So chewy and soft…in fact, I had to pry them apart to lay them out for my office coworkers today. I used a TJ mix of golden raisins, cherries and blueberries and holy yum. I told a coworker that the berries along with the oats make it practically health food. 😉
I wish I’d read the comments before baking these. I’d never used molasses and didn’t realize how thick and sticky it was. I made a huge mess. LOL
How hard is it to stick a Tablespoon into a jar of molasses? Dont blame your ignorance on the recipe.